News of the World reporter: I was ordered to dress like Harry Potter on 9/11

There’s a conceivable thrill to going to work dressed like a wizard, but less so on the day of the most infamous terrorist attack of the decade. Particularly less so if it’s under orders from your boss.

A Harry Potter Premiere — a considerably more sensitive place to be dressed like a wizard: Cristi Parks / Hearst Connecticut Media Group / COPYRIGHT, 2007

In the Harry Potter example, the then 29-year-old Charles Begley changed his name to Harry Potter and dressed like the fictional character to tap into global Pottermania (some time between Goblet of Fire and Order of the Phoenix). According to the AP:

“On Sept. 11, hours after the fall of the twin towers, Begley was stunned to be chewed out by News of the World management for not wearing his costume. He said he was then ordered to attend the next news meeting in full Potter regalia.

Shaken by the demand, Begley never showed up, and soon afterward parted ways with the paper.”

“[Former News of the World Managing Editor Stuart] Kuttner poured scorn on Begley’s account, saying: “The notion that News of the World executives were focusing on Mr Begley’s Harry Potter act to the exclusion of the September 11 events is complete drivel.

“I’ve never known a newsroom or an editor’s office so transfixed by unfurling events, in this case the disaster in New York.”

Other dubious acts that the AP report — and Brooks’ camp will not comment on, saying only that many allegations are ridiculous — include:

Orders to refer to women as ‘tarts,’ ‘slappers,’ or ‘hookers’ at any mention of sexual proclivity.

Dressing a reporter like a middle eastern dignitary with a hidden camera to trick prominent figures.

Deliberately inserting lies into stories for the sake of sensationalism.

Blacklisting any reporter who raised questions about the paper’s ethics.

Rebekah Brooks In an Oct. 6, 2009 file photo from the Associated Press